Pack Softball Sweeps Exhibition Doubleheader Against LongwoodFirst baseman Leah Jones clubs a pair of homers in the opener and sophomore pitcher Emily Weiman picked up the win and the save in the two contests.

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State first baseman Leah Jones clubbed a pair of home runs in the opener and sophomore righthander Emily Weiman picked up a win and a save as the Wolfpack swept a fall exhibition doubleheader from Longwood Sunday afternoon at Dail Stadium.

Jones, who hit just two homers all last season, had a pair of shots to left-centerfield, as the Pack won the opener 5-0 over the Lancers. The first was a two-run homer, while the second was a solo shot.

Weiman allowed just two hits, struck out 12 and gave up no walks in the complete-game shutout.

“It was a good start,” said first-year coach Shawn Rychcik after seeing his team in game action for the first time. “There's a lot of room to get better. We needed a place for us to start and say ‘This is where we are at.’

“That’s what today was about.”

In the second game, which State won 8-2, the Wolfpack scored four runs in the bottom of the first, as Longwood senior pitcher Ashley Cornell struggled to find the plate. After Katie Mansilla and Caitlyn Dent hit back-to-back doubles to open the inning and score the first run, Wolfpack scored three straight runs on bases-loaded walks.

The Lancers scored their first run of the doubleheader when Carly Adams was hit by a pitch and scored on Kori Nishitomi’s single in the top of the third against Wolfpack freshman lefthander Chelsea Stanfield. Stanfield allowed an unearned run in the fifth, after Longwood’s Emily Murphy reached on an error to open the inning.

Stanfield was relieved by Weiman in the top of the sixth inning, after the Lancers posted consecutive singles to open the inning. Weiman ended the threat, with a foul-out to catcher and a double play by shortstop Renada Davis.

In the bottom half of the inning, Davis hit a two-run shot for the Pack’s third homer of the day, followed by a two-run double by Bethaney Wells.

The two Wolfpack pitchers did not allow a walk all day and gave up a total of six hits in the two contests.

“Our season will start and end with pitching, and I thought they both threw well today,” Rychcik said. “I thought Chelsea, for her first time on the mound, did a nice job. It was a real good start for the two of them.”

The Wolfpack will play again in three weeks when it has five games in a 10-team tournament at Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Softball Complex Oct. 13-14.

State opens regular-season play in February with back-to-back trips to Florida for tournaments. The full schedule will be released later this month.